This week we finish up part 3 of our study of the Universe. The experience has been fabulous! Everyone has learned so much (including Jason and I). I love how the Montessori curriculum starts with the biggest concepts and then works it way to smaller ideas. It's so much easier to understand one's place in the world and Universe this way.

Moving on to our activities this week:

Language:

Pink Series: Short "i" Spelling with Moveable Alphabet

We continue our extensive study of language using the pink series. This post includes all of my short "i" activities and printables. I'm so impressed with how much progress the kiddos have made with their spelling. Bulldozer has made the most progress by far. I owe it to our fabulous Montessori Cursive Moveable Alphabet. It really does work miracles. Bulldozer isn't quite comfortable using the one in cursive, but he LOVES his Montessori Small Movable Alphabet in print. The objects for this activity were those we had around the house.

Source: I created the printable for this activity as part of my Pink Series Printable Pack 3. For your free copy, click on the link at the bottom of this post.

Pink Series: Cursive Short "i" Word & Picture Match Up

I always find it so fascinating that each kiddo selects a different pink series activity to do over and over again each day throughout the week. This one is Dinomite's favorite. The first day it was on the shelves, he reminded me I had forgotten to add the control of having each word printed on the back. Once I corrected the error, he has selected this activity every day to see how many he can identify without looking at the print on the back of each card. It only took him a couple days, and he was all set.

Source: I created the printable for this activity as part of my Pink Series Printable Pack 3. For your free copy, click on the link at the bottom of the post. I used a pink marker to write the words in cursive on the front of label card, then printed each word on the back using the same marker. Words include: jib (part of a sail), mix, dip, wig, lit (candle), kid (baby goat), tip (pencil), & pin.

Pink Series: Short "i" Picture & Phrase Match Up with Grammar Symbols

Last week I put our short "e" pictures and phrases on the shelf without grammar symbols. The kiddos barely touched them. This week, I've brought the grammar symbols back, adding an extra twist of having article, adjective, and noun phrases, as well as article, noun, & verb sentences. The kiddos have really enjoyed the activity. They love working with our Montessori Wooden Grammar Symbols!

Source: I created the printable for this activity as part of my Pink Series Printable Pack 3. For your free copy, click on the link at the bottom of this post.

Source: I created the printables for these activities. Be sure to click on the link to the post above for your free copy of them all!

Culture & Geography:

Solstices & Equinoxes

There is so much to study about our Earth! This week the kiddos were introduced to solstices and equinoxes. We reviewed the chart in this activity, talking about the months of the year, etc. It came at a perfect time as the days are getting shorter and shorter and they kept asking why. Since this is a really big concept for the kiddos to understand, I made the activity simple, by having them put the chart back together, first using the pieces provided, and then placing the labels in the correct spaces. Princess discovered that a great control for the activity is making sure the cycle created is oval shaped. I have a feeling that we may start celebrating solstices, just to remind them of what they've learned!

Source: I created the printable for this activity as part of my The Universe: The Earth, Sun, & Stars Printable Pack 1. For your free copy, click on the link at the bottom of the post.

Day & Night Around the World

The kiddos have been learning how the Earth circles around the sun, while spinning, at a slight tilt this week. To simplify things a little bit, I decided to have the kiddos use our globe with a flashlight to understand that when one part of the Earth has daylight, the opposite side is in darkness, experiencing night. Each kiddo has enjoyed selecting countries where it's daylight, based on where they shine the flashlight, and then looking at the opposite side of the Earth to find a country where it's night. Princess has done this activity every day it's been on the shelves.

Source: I created the printable for this activity as part of my The Universe: The Earth, Sun, & Stars Printable Pack 1. For your free copy, click on the link at the bottom of the post.

Time Zones Around the World

It's one thing to understand that part of the world is experiencing night while the other is experiencing day. But to understand time zones takes a little more effort. This activity is an introduction to the concept. The kiddos look at the varying times shown on the pair of clocks, and then use the magnifying glass to find the countries on the world map. They use the glass beads provided to mark the country pairs. This map has all of the time zones indicated with red lines and also with numbers at the bottom and top.

Source: The free map used for this activity can be found at Maps of the World. The labeled clocks used in the activity were found in an image on the internet. (My apologies. I ran out of time to create my own own.)

Astronomy:

Geoboard Constellations

I decided to get crafty this week, only because I had the materials on hand. We've studied constellations several times in the past and I wanted to try something new. So, I bring you our geoboard constellation activity! The kiddos are in love with it. It took them a bit to coordinate their fingers, but once they had that down, they were set. The only thing I wished I would have changed about the activity is having smaller rubber bands to use. Oh well. It's definitely not stopping them from having fun. The kiddos use rubber bands to create constellations on the board (in case you didn't get that.).

I am so excited about this activity! We've studied stars in the past, learning about the life cycle of a star, constellations, etc., but we've never studied stars like we are right now! The kiddos have found studying nebulae quite fascinating. This activity includes the five types of nebula, definitions of each type, and at least 5 different examples of each type of nebula to sort. Just looking at the sorting cards is absolutely fascinating!

Source: I created this activity as part of my The Universe: The Earth, Sun & Stars Printable Pack 1. For your copy, click on the link at the bottom of the post.

Elements in Space

This week we continue to keep our Periodic Table of the Elements activity on our shelves. However, I've only included elements in space, to help the kiddos focus on those as part of our unit study, especially in regards to nebula.

Source: The Free Periodic Table & Cards are available HERE. The idea for this activity was inspired by those at The Pinay Homeschooler.

For those interested in the free printables, click on the links below!

Our next unit study is all about the Earth. Part one will consist of the study of the composition of the Earth. The second part will be all about the atmosphere. We'll finish off the unit with studying the hydrosphere. It should be fun! The kiddos are already asking all types of questions as we've commenced reading Journey to the Center of the Earth aloud during lunch. I hope you have a fabulous day!

Yesterday marked only 3 months left until Christmas. For some that doesn't mean anything, but for those on a tight budget, or those who are early shoppers, it means everything. As I contemplated what gift guides to compile for the holiday season, I decided the best items to share would be those that my children actually want and are approved by me (their official Christmas wish lists). This post is the first of a 6 post series that will roll out over the next few weeks. The series will include:

Gift Ideas for 8 (and 9) Year Old Boys-Dinomite's Wish List

Gift Ideas for 6 (and 7) Year Old Boys-Bulldozer's Wish List

Gift Ideas for 6 (and 7) Year Old Girls-Princess' Wish List

Gift Ideas for 2 (and 3) Year Old Girls-Sunshine's Wish List

Gift Ideas for Mom-Renae's Wish List

Gift Ideas for Dad-Jason's Wish List

This first post: Gift Ideas for 8 (and 9) Year Old Boys, may just be my favorite guide. Dinomite selected every item on the list. He spent a significant amount of time window shopping on Amazon. Lol. If I had the funds to do so, I wouldn't hesitate purchasing all items on this list. They are fabulous! I have a feeling grandparents are going to have a tough time narrowing down choices this year. Usually it's super easy to find items for the girls but not for the boys. This year the opposite seems to be happening. Dinomite has created an AMAZING list!

Dinomite owns a Nintendo 2DS. All of games in this section are specific to the Nintendo 2DS. If your child owns a different game system, chances are, the games recommended here are still available. You just need to check.